


Baby Is Gone, Gone, Gone

by words_reign_here



Series: The Beginning After The End [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Domestic, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Precious things are stolen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby Is Gone, Gone, Gone

Kindergarten, first grade and second grade were a breeze for Sophia. Life was terribly easy for her. She was loved by her teachers because she was so intelligent but her classmates couldn't help but like her too. She was mischievous and pulled pranks on the worst of the bullies with a surprising amount of cunning.

Maybe if they had known that her uncle was a pagan god of tricking people, it would have made more sense. If they had known she could trace her lineage back to Loki himself, there would have been no more bullies. As it was though, she was able to defend herself against the worst of it. If Sophie hadn't proven to be such a bad ass in the ring, her small figure darting in and out, landing well placed punches, she might have gotten a lot worse.

But even the meanest children learned to be wary of her. They also learned to be wary around the children who she claimed as friends. She would not stand by silently. Cas and Dean had learned that the hard way when she was suspended early on in her third grade year. One of the older kids had called another little boy a faggot and had to go home with a broken nose. Despite the school’s zero tolerance for hate filled rhetoric, Sophie was suspended as well for two days as well.

On the ride home, she sat in the back, the tears silently spilling over to her cheeks.

"Daddy?" She said, finally. Everyone had been silent. The tricks, sure they were easy to overlook. But outright violence was something that needed to be tended to.

Dean sighed. "Yeah, baby?" Cas squeezed his thigh. _Be gentle_ , he seemed to say silently.

"How mad are you?" She asked. Dean pulled over to the side of the road and turned around. He knew why she did it. He knew that she knew the meaning of that word and its hate filled past. He also knew that his daughter, of all people, would not stand for that word. If she could go around, beating it out of people, it would be her mission in life.

And he also understood her anger. He was the Righteous Man, after all.

He turned to her so that he could look her square in the eye. "I'm going to talk to you like an adult and I need you to listen like one, ok?"

She nodded and looked him right back. She had Cas’ stare; forthright and unwavering.

"What that little boy said was ugly and mean. And you make me so proud that you stood up to something so hateful. I love you. And you make me and your Papa proud every day. Am I mad?" Dean sighed and looked down at his fingers laced through Castiel's. Cas squeezed and urged Dean on.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Not at you. You did what you thought was right. And I want you to know that when you feel with your heart, violence will always be the first answer. But you have to think with that big old brain of yours too, ok? And understand that not everyone has what you have. You are loved more than most children and that little boy... well he wasn't. Still isn't. So, first think. And then react. You have to learn to think through the problems before you react to them."

Cas reached to the backseat and wiped away Sophia's face. "When you do that, when you think and then act, your Daddy and I will back your play every time. Because you will be on the right track. Ok?"

"Ok, Papa." She said softly.

"Can we go get a cheeseburger?" She asked then.

The school itself was a fine fit and everyone felt better after Gabriel and Sam broke in one night to ward the place. The security measures in the school were suitable as well. It was fenced and guarded while school was in session. Sophia was dropped off and picked up every day by either Cas, Sam or Dean. Gabriel and Michael would occasionally tag along to see Sophie but other than that, they were each other's whole world.

So, on a rainy fall day of Sophia's fourth grade year when she did not immediately step out the school with her usual gaggle of friends, Dean was surprised. Sure, communications wires had been crossed before but only once. Maybe twice. Dean parked the Impala and sauntered up the crosswalk. He knew he looked out of place where all the kids were wearing their uniforms and the parents picking them up were in way too expensive clothes. He got the stink eye from a couple of parents and one security guard he had exchanged words with the previous year.

Dean found his way to Sophia's classroom, thinking maybe she was still in there discussing history or art with her teacher. It had happened before. Instead, he found Mrs. Lee tidying up but an otherwise empty room.

"Oh, hello Mr. Winchester! How are you?" She asked. This woman had been born to teach. She came alive when her students were in the room.

"Hi, Mrs. Lee. I'm doing pretty well. Hey, I didn't see Sophia outside. Did she stay after?" He asked.

"Oh no. Not at all. Your husband came to pick her up around ten this morning. A dentist appointment?"

It was as if Dean’s center of gravity shifted and he couldn’t find his footing.

Castiel had been with Dean all day, in bed. They had just dragged themselves out of their room for Dean to pick up Sophie and Cas to get an after school snack ready for her.

"I'm sorry; you said Cas picked her up?" Dean asked, thinking maybe he had heard wrong.

"Yes, your husband, correct?" Mrs. Lee said. Her brow knit in concern. Dean smiled and said, "Oh yes. That's right. I guess-" Dean cleared his throat as he backed out of the classroom. "I guess I just forgot." He turned his back and pulled out his phone.

He called Cas first. "Is Sophia there?" He asked roughly.

"No, I thought you were on your way to get her." Cas answered slowly as though he were speaking to a small child.

"She's not here." He hissed. He was already climbing into the Impala.

"Did Sam-" Cas started.

"Let me call him." Dean said. His stomach was doing funny turns and his chest felt too tight. He hung up on Cas and dialed Sam.

"Hey, Dean. So get this-" Sam started.

"No, Sam. Do you have Sophia?" He asked.

"No, I thought it was your turn to go get her. Here, I'm right by the school I can swing by and get her."

"Sammy." Dean said and his voice broke. The fear was clawing at his throat and for a second he wondered if he was back on the racks with Alastair.

"What? Dean? What is it?" Sam demanded.

"Meet me at the diner down the street-"

"Dean-"

"Damn it, Sammy, just do it!" He hung up his phone and tossed it on the seat, peeling out of the school and heading towards the diner. Sam was there and he almost hauled Dean out of the car.

"Dean, what? Dean." Sam searched Dean's face for a minute and then asked, very slowly, "Where is Sophia?"

Dean looked so blank that Sam wondered if he had heard him. Sophia was nine years old. Nine years old. At nine years old, he should have been able to answer like it was a reflex but instead all he could manage was, "She's gone."

Sam stared at Dean for a second before turning and looking up. "No. What if, what if Gabe has her?" Sam turned and looked at Dean. Dean shook his head. A trick like this was too cruel, even for Gabriel.

"Her teacher said that Cas picked her up. Cas was with me all day. He couldn't- He couldn't have- Who?" Dean's breath hitched and he thought he really was having a heart attack.

His little girl. His baby that he had held from her first day on this earth.

This tiny little person that was all of Dean and Cas. And he had no idea where she was. Who she was with.

"Gabriel. Gabriel. Please, come down here. Please be able to hear us. Please Gabe- It's Soph-" Sam didn't even have to finish his prayer before Gabriel showed up, brandishing his blade.

"What the hell, Sam? I thought you were dying!" He said. Then he noticed both of the brothers. "What? What is-" He turned around and looked in both their cars. "Where is Sophia? Does Cas have her?" Dean was only able to hitch another breath, his chest shaking and already crying. He knew better than anyone else what was out there. The thousand ways that his little girl could get hurt. He knew so much; in this case too much.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and they were back home. Cas was pacing in the library and when he saw Dean he stalked over to him. He noticed first the shaking of his hands and then the tears on his cheeks. Cas pressed his palms to Dean's cheeks and said, "Tell me everything." And Dean did.

"Call Michael." Cas snapped at Gabriel when Dean finished his story.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Gabriel asked, irritated. "But if I can't find her, I doubt he'll have much luck either."

"Your methods are not working, Gabriel! Find Sophia!" Cas demanded.

"I baptized her! She bears my mark! I should be able to find her but there isn't anything!" Gabriel shouted back.

 

To be continued...


End file.
